The early days ABA seeded the fund with a $25,000 donation. Generous contributions were made by hundreds of booksellers, publishers, distributors, wholesalers, the regional booksellers associations, and others in the industry. Major donors included the Southeast Booksellers Association and Independent Publishers Group ($25,000 each) as well as Holtzbrinck Publishers ($10,000). Many ABA member bookstores donated a portion of store sales during a special one-day event on October 1, 2005.
Who benefited? In 2005, the BRF distributed more than $100,000 to booksellers in the Gulf Coast. In October, Phase One grants ($500 each) for immediate critical needs – food, housing, and transportation – were distributed to 50 bookstore owners and employees left jobless by the hurricanes. At year’s end, Phase Two resulted in $80,000 in distributions to the Gulf Coast booksellers most severely affected by Hurricane Katrina.	Who manages the fund? A Board of Directors composed of past ABA presidents Ann Christophersen, Neal Coonerty, Avin Mark Domnitz, Richard Howorth, J. Rhett Jackson, Joyce Meskis, Dick Noyes, Joan Ripley, Chuck Robinson, and Gail See oversees the fund. Recent ABA President Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida is chair of the Board.
Read more in BTW A chronological look at stories about the BRF and the hurricanes’ effects on booksellers and others in the book industry is available through Bookselling This Week.